A review by nickikendall
A Friend in the Dark by Samantha M. Bailey

dark mysterious tense

5.0

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. I would call this a domestic type of thriller and for me it hit all the marks of what I want out of a thriller read. 
 I want a captivating storyline, dark atmospheric feelings and for it to haunt me once I have finished it. In this book we have Eden a very recent empty nester whose husband has also just asked her for a divorce. Eden is still cradling her broken heart on her forty-fifth birthday with only a now empty bottle of champagne and her Facebook account to keep her company. When her best friend sends her a happy birthday message accompanied by a picture of themselves as college students, Eden starts reminiscing about her college crush, Justin Ward. Twenty-three years ago, she was in love with the bad boy drummer, but in one fateful night everything changed and resulted in Eden walking down the aisle with Dave instead. Before she can stop herself, Eden sends him a friend request and is shocked when he accepts it straight away. The next morning, rather than regret what she’s done, Eden feels reawakened by the attention that Justin has paid her. Not wanting to back away from this new feeling, she throws herself headlong into an online relationship and takes risks that would have made her cringe just days earlier. But as the weeks pass, something starts to feel off. Justin seems to know things that he shouldn’t. Could he have been following her? But if so, why? This was one of those mesmerising reads where you just keep telling yourself you will just read "one more chapter" because it is just too fast paced to put down and I found myself swept up in the momentum of it all and trying to uncover just what Justin's intentions were and whether or not Eden was safe in this new relationship of hers. I loved the darkly disturbing characters and the unexpected twists as the story unfolded, it definitely kept me holding on until the very last word. It will leave you questioning any friend requests you receive from people from your past and definitely make you think twice before requesting any people from your own pasts that you find on  social media. #afriendinthedark #samanthambailey #thomasandmercer #goodreads #getlitsy #thestorygraph #fable #netgalley #domesticthriller #bookqueen #bookstagram #tea_sipping_bookworm